Flower Children
by sexion
Summary: Lucy's hapily ever after: it wasn't what she expected, but it would do.


AN: Hehe, my first Elfen Lied fic… let… s. I guess each thingy (I don't know what they're called,) can stand by itself. It isn't what I planned originally, and so there'll be connections between them. Just bear with me here; I'm not very good at lengthy stuff. ):

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Elfen Lied. Well _there's _a surprise.

:o

**Flower Children**

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i

* * *

Many years had passed. She had become a wanderer of sorts, never stopping for more than a few days in the same place. A few times she would sleep on the fresh grass, and awake to find herself covered in fresh dew. A while back she would have found a house and killed the occupants, but no more.

She lived nowhere, and for the first time in her life, she felt content with her surroundings. She would never find another home like the Keade inn, where all were welcomed and loved, but the life she lived was peaceful. She busied herself with simple tasks, finding one or two odd-jobs that would give her the money she needed to eat, or finding a stream to drink from. These tasks were the only things that kept her from thinking too much, the only things that kept her from returning to her… _home_, if she could call it that now.

Often, she would find her mind wandering towards the inn, and wondering whether Nana still lived there, whether Mayu had gotten good grades, and whether Yuka had finally won over Kouta. Her insides would burn up every time she went to this subject, and she would contemplate returning, but each time, she was reminded of her past, and would shy away from the thought of it. Eventually, she learnt to block out those thoughts, and so continued her peaceful life.

She was no longer discriminated against; her horns were long gone, and so she fitted in with crowd easier than before. However, she still mourned the loss of her features, and would sometimes still wear the large hats she had grown accustomed to in earlier life. And so, as her life went by, she found herself accepted into the community. A welcome change, but she missed the excuse to throw herself into another violent situation.

* * *

ii

* * *

This town was the same as the others. Many people bustled about, headed to work, or just trying to attract people's attention to their market stall. The street was loud, but friendly. More than one stranger had stopped her in the street and commented on how wonderful her hair was, asking her whether it was natural, and what she used to clean it. She responded politely, but there was an underlying tone of annoyance in her voice, and people soon learnt to walk past her.

The day passed quickly, and many people began to pack up at sunset. Lucy was one of the handful that didn't move from their place. She waited until the commotion was over, before getting up, and warily trudging back to her place of stay.

As she walked, Lucy began to hum a tune, quietly. It brought back so many memories; good ones, and bad ones, but mostly it was to give her something to do. She realised too late that she was never going back, and that that song did no good for her state of mind.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts, that Lucy didn't even notice the force of someone running into her. She did, however, hear the thump of a child hitting the floor.

As she looked down, she saw a mass of bright red hair, and then small, but bright, mahogany eyes. Before she had the time to react, a wicker basket was shoved into her face, with a desperate cry of, "do you want to buy a flower?"

Blinking, Lucy tried to regain some sense of composure, whilst pushing the flower-basket downwards, back towards its owner, and politely declining with a "no thank you", something that she had never even imagined doing before, but that was alright because she was _different_ now; with no horns and a newer, brighter personality, even if she _did_ carry the guilt of _hundreds_ of deaths on her back.

"Oh, okay…" And then she was off, just like that, leaving a cloud of dust in her wake, and a pensive Lucy behind.

It was strange in a way, that the child reminded Lucy of herself. A little lost, and obviously with no place to go. Her clothes hung limp around her frail form, barely keeping her warm, and she was too skinny for her height. She guessed that it was the way the child carried herself; she may have looked poor in what she was wearing, but the way that she carried herself told another story. The very thought of comparing herself to a human made her feel proud that she was able to see through their differences, and maybe a little horrified at the same time; they were the ones who told her that she was good only for killing in the first place. They said that she was a monster.

But then she remembered Kouta and the others, and she once again felt proud to be herself, even if they did bring back memories.

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iii

* * *

Once, she had wished Yuka dead. It was in a fit of rage; jealousy had clouded her judgement, and it had caused _many_ deaths. None of them were Yuka. Lucy had sworn to never kill again after the end of her adventures with Kouta. It was not an easy habit to break, as absurd as it seemed and from time-to-time, she would find herself looking at a normal family, and wishing them to just disappear. Lucy never had that kind of love; that one that all the families she saw seemed to keep so close to their hearts.

She soon learnt to walk on past, hardly noticing them, even when they were loud and the children all wanted to play with her.

Sat on a hill, distant from the village that she was staying on, Lucy began to wonder about the future. She was sure that she couldn't live like this all of her life. Somehow, it didn't seem possible. She idly plucked a flower from the grass, and began to pick it apart, never truly paying attention to what she was doing.

Could there have been a future with Kouta…?

Would he ever…?

_Could_ he ever…?

And now, she wished she were in Yuka's position. It was rather ironic, seeing as it was really Yuka who was always jealous of her when she had been around.

Although when she thought about it… _no_, she didn't want to be in her position. Although it would be nice for her to just go away. Maybe then, she might go back and face Kouta again.

Needless to say, sometimes, she still wished Yuka dead.

* * *

AN: I'm done. I wrote this months ago (last year sometime), so yeah, it's not as good as I would have like, but I'll deal with it. :P There was going to be more, but I was all like 'I don't feel like it, so _there_' and so there's no more. D: If I do anymore though, there may be another chapter?

Blahblahblah. Review if you feel like it. O.o;


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